What It Means
by Wood Elf luver
Summary: Aragorn and Legolas get into an argument, but something happens and someone pays the price, leaving the other with a guilty conscience. Aragorn discovers what it means to have a true friend and not to let his hot-headedness get in the way of that.
1. Chapter 1

My second story! Told ya it wouldn't be long before I made another! LOL!

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Aragorn walked furiously through the forest, not caring how loud he was being, or if something, or someone, in particular, was following him. He was still too angry about his argument with Legolas to care about much of anything. The discussion played in his head again.

_"Aragorn." Aragorn stopped and turned to look at Legolas._

_"Legolas, my friend, what do you need?"_

_"I have to tell you something. I'm going back to Mirkwood early. I don't feel very comfortable here lately."_

_Aragorn was shocked by the words, and a offended, because Legolas looked at him when he said those last words. _

_"Fine! Run home to the place where you're SO welcome instead of being here with the people that apparently don't welcome you enough!"_

_Legolas was taken aback by his friend's harsh words. "Aragorn, there's another reason, too."_

_"Then what is it?"_

_"I can't tell you what it is!"_

_"Fine then! I'm leaving too!"_

_With that he stomped off, ignoring Legolas's calls for him to come back. He was angry, and when you got him angry, he could be very stubborn._

Aragorn was too lost in thought to recognize what his senses were trying to tell him what was in the background. Danger was year, and Aragorn was oblivious to it, though he didn't seem to notice.

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Wood Elf luver: So, there goes Aragorn, putting himself in danger without realizing it! He tends to do that a lot. I'll update soon! Very surprising stuff coming up soon! Read and review, and I'll keep typing away! Man, there's danger signs everywhere, and he doesn't seem to notice them! Talk about stubborn!


	2. Chapter 2

Legolas stood there, a little stunned. Why had his friend acted that way, he wondered as he went to get his supplies. He knew Aragorn well enough to know he had neglected to bring any with him.

So, Legolas set off in search of his friend. It didn't take long for Legolas to sense danger, though, and he thought about turning back. But then, he decided to keep going, wanting to get both himself and his friend out of the forest.

Since he could hear Aragorn from a mile away anyway, he unsheathed a knife, just in case any new danger was too close to run from. But as he reached Aragorn, the sense nagging at the back of his mind grew, and he knew that if Aragorn wasn't careful, he would be in deep trouble.

Finally, Legolas caught up with Aragorn. He didn't have time to make himself known before the danger he knew was approaching burst out of the forest. Orcs. To Legolas, that word was like poison to him, and not even saying it he spit on the ground, disgusted.

Aragorn just seemed to recognize the danger as it closed in on him, and he grabbed his knife from his belt. Soon, Aragorn was plunged into battle, where he would be the victor, he knew, for this was a really small party of Orcs, traveling with only five. Legolas thought this was weird that such a small party was attacking Aragorn on bad odds.

It didn't matter anyway, because soon, only two were left. When Aragorn was battling the first one, Legolas watched the second one. He gasped in horror when he realized it had a bow and arrows, but too late. The Orc drew his bow and pointed his arrow at Aragorn. Legolas knew he couldn't kill it in time, or distract it, because it was already beginning to fire the arrow. He had to act quickly.

Aragorn didn't have much time to react when he killed the first one and turned to the second. He was surprised to see that it had a set of bow and arrows, and that an arrow was already shooting towards him. Aragorn made his peace with death, but when the arrow met it's mark, it didn't end up in Aragorn.

Legolas fell back with a grunt of pain. He knew that the arrow had hit him in the chest, and could only pray it didn't puncture his lung. On the bright side, he thought, I did manage to kill it by throwing my knife at it before the arrow hit me.

Aragorn instinctively caught Legolas, and he noticed that Legolas must still be consciouss because his body was tense from pain.

"Legolas, hold on, I've got you now."

With that, the tension in his friends' body immediately fled, unconsciousness finally taking him when he knew that Aragorn was better off than him. Aragorn looked at the location of the black arrow, and almost got sick looking at it. It was buried deep in his chest. Aragorn knew better than to remove the arrow, not wanting his friend to lose any more blood than what was already covering him.

He picked up his best friend and started walking back to Rivendell. Aragorn felt a pang of guilt deep inside his stomach, and he thought about how he might never get to apologize to his friend for the argument they had had that seemed so long ago.

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Wood Elf luver: I WAS going to leave a cliff hanger, but I got so into the story I continued on without noticing. So, today is your lucky day! You aren't left with a cliff hanger! Thanks for reading and I'll update as soon as I possibly can. Man, I'm really getting into this one! TTYL! : )


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for following this story or favoriting it, and a big thank you to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. Now, to the next chapter. Man, this is going to bug a lot of you!

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Elladan was confused. He hadn't seen his brother or Legolas the previous day, and they weren't making their presence known now. He talked to his twin, and Elrohir agreed.

"They have been abnormally quiet. I wonder what they've been up to. I hope nothing bad happened."

Elladan nodded. "We should go and check on them, to see if they are alive."

He wasn't joking, either. Usually when these things happened, someone got injured. But Elladan still couldn't shake the feeling that this was different, and the air was tense as they walked to their friend's and brother's rooms. They decided to go with Legolas first, because believe it or not, he was much more patient than Aragorn.

"Legolas, can we come in?" No answer. "Legolas?" Elladan said, and tapped the door again, but there was still no response. Elrohir sighed behind him, and Elladan felt like sighing too, but kept on knocking on the door. "Well, we're coming in." He opened the door, and was very surprised to find it empty.

The bed looked like it hadn't been slept in all night like it should've, and Elladan looked to the corner where Legolas usually kept his bow and knives and gasped. They were gone. Elrohir saw this too, and they both exchanged looks of worry to one another before going across the hall to Aragorn's room.

They found the same thing there. No one was in there, and the weapons were gone. They were just thinking they should go tell their father, Elrond, when they heard the guard yelling and moving about.

Elladan and Elrohir flew to the gates. What they would find behind them would make both of their suspicions clear.


	4. Chapter 4

The gates opened almost immediately in front of Aragorn, and he rushed inside, where he was met by Elladan and Elrohir. Both gasped when they saw the Prince of Mirkwood in his arms, but even more at the long, black Orc arrow that pierced his chest. Elrond followed them shortly, and gave the same reaction. Aragorn noted the fact that the twins didn't look in the least bit surprised that one of them had once again managed to come back injured. But Aragorn ignored it. He had more pressing matters at the moment, and the guilt was almost unbearable.

As they raced to the healing halls, Aragorn thought to himself, _If I hadn't argued with him, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. Why did he take the arrow for me when he knew I was still upset with him?_

Aragorn almost stopped in his tracks at the realization. Legolas had once told him he'd do anything for his closest friends, even die for them. That Legolas was now in his arms, an arrow stuck in his chest that should've hit Aragorn, struck him. Legolas was his friend, even though they had argued. He still did what he would've done had they not been angry at each other. But, Aragorn still felt the pang of guilt.

_He took an arrow for me, even though I got mad at him. He's a true friend. But what does that make me, the person that he took the arrow for? _After they reached the healing halls, he layed Legolas down on the bed that he normally occupied. The twins had, for Legolas's birthday, made a sign that said, _Prince Legolas, _above the bed, that's how much Legolas stayed in it.

Aragorn didn't laugh at the memory, though. The guilt was overwhelming, and as Elrond looked over the location of the arrow and listened to Legolas's breathing to see if it had pierced a lung, Aragorn felt the room sway sickeningly. He had to get out of the room, or he would end up passing out. No one expected it when he ran from the room, though no one was startled by it, knowing how close the two were. But none of them knew the real reason, and Aragorn, still running from the room, thought of telling them about how it had all happened, and he dreaded the thought.

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Wood Elf luver: *mumbles to herself* Hmm, probably not my BEST chapter. But, always got more to come. It's weird how I can get SO into a story, yet the chapters are unusually short. *Legolas walks over* Well, to me, none of your chapters are good chapters, because apparently, I get injured SO much. *I nod* You really do. You should wear a helmet and become the size of Gimli. Not saying your NOT my fave character ever, but still. *Legolas huffs.* Well, it's YOUR story, so why are YOU telling ME what to do? *I stare at him.* Oh, shuddup, you stinkin Elf. Anyway, back to the point of the story. I'll update soon. But, school starts again soon, and I know how much everybody hates it, but if you have to go, it's even worse. Hope you like this chappie, and please review, and if you already have, a big thank you to you. Also, to all of those who have been following throughout the story, thank you for reading. Next chapter will be better, I promise. TTYL! : )


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, I know, I know, the last chappie wasn't very good. But, I've had a lot to work on lately, running three stories now that all still aren't finished. To let you all, I am not writing any more stories until I finish one of my first two that I started. Speaking of which, here's the next chappie!

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Elladan and Elrohir watched as their father listened to Legolas's breathing. Aragorn had run out of the room, but nobody had gone after him, because all knew that he probably needed time for himself. But, then again, they all wanted answers to what had happened.

No one spoke when Elrond stood upright again. "The arrow missed his lung, thankfully, but it's still dangerously close to his lung. We'll have to be very careful extracting it. We don't want to cause further damage." The twins nodded, sighing with relief that their friend wasn't as bad as they had thought, but tension filled the air as Elrond took the arrow in his hands. They waited for what seemed like hours, when at a very precise moment, Elrond pulled the arrow out.

The twins quickly went to get herbs and the thingst they knew their father would need to make the wound heal. Meanwhile, Elrond checked for any signs of poison, finding small traces of the black liquid in the blood that pooled on the cloth that Elrond put pressure on the wound with. Elladan and Elrohir came back, with an arm-load of supplies each, and they played rock-paper-scissors to see who would go and check on Aragorn.

Elrohir won, and as Elladan walked through the halls, he thought he could hear the sound of sobbing coming from the direction of his brother's room. He entered without knocking, already knowing that if he did knock, Aragorn would just tell him to go away. Elladan's heart broke when he saw Aragorn sitting on his bed, crying.

"Aragorn, ada(father) said that Legolas will be alright. There's no reason to cry." Elladan went to sit next to Aragorn, but Aragorn shied away. "Estel, what's wrong?" Elladan asked, using Aragorn's Elvish name, which meant hope. Aragorn looked up.

"It's all my fault. It's my fault." Elladan layed his hand on Aragorn's arm in comfort. "No, it's not. You had no way to control what happened out there. Though I know not what happened or how, I know it's not your fault."

"Elladan, it is too my fault! I argued with him, and then I got mad and went to the forest to clear my head. But then, I got attacked by Orcs, and one fired an arrow at me, and out of nowhere he just hopped in front of me. Why did he do that, El?" Elladan hugged Aragorn around the shoulders.

"Estel, he did that because you are best friends. He told you once a while ago that he would die for his family and friends. He wasn't mad at you, and he knew you really weren't mad at him. He would've taken the arrow for you even if you hadn't been fighting before. He's very stubborn and protective, you know that for sure, right?" That got a smile from Aragorn, but it quickly faded.

"So, ada said he would be fine?" he asked in a whisper, and Elladan nodded. "The arrow missed his lung, barely, but he'll live. The worst has passed, Estel." Aragorn nodded, but then stopped, "What if he's still mad at me?" Elladan smiled. "Has Legolas ever blamed you for this type of thing? Ever?"

Aragorn shook his head no, and Elladan pulled him to his feet. "Come on, let's go see how the Elfling is doing." Aragorn smiled, and they walked to the healing halls. He was glad that he had been able to talk to his brother about it, but guilt still ate at him, and he wished Legolas would wake so he could say he was sorry.

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Wood Elf luver: I hope that one was better. It was better than I originally expected. Honestly, I was lost about what I wanted this chappie to be about, but I guess it turned out OK. Read, review, and I'll type. TTYL! : )


	6. Chapter 6

I know, I know, I skipped a day, but even an author has a life outside of Fanfiction. Like, I have basketball practice every...single...day, except for today! So, ya me, and ya you, cuz you get to read another chappie!

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Over the next few days, Legolas's fever had lessened to where it was almost gone. Aragorn absolutely refused to leave Legolas's side, guilty as he was for the situation itself. Legolas had yet to wake, and he wanted to be there when he finally did.

So, it just so happened that when Legolas did wake, Aragorn was sitting there next to him, alone. Everyone else had trusted that if Legolas needed anything, Aragorn would be there to help out his friend. As it was, Aragorn was just about to fall asleep where he sat when Legolas shifted slightly. Aragorn jumped at the unexpected movement, but looked down at Legolas. The Elf's body was tense, his face scrunched up in agony, but he didn't utter a single word, let alone make a sound, he just lay there, motionless, waiting for the pain to lessen.

"Legolas? Open your eyes, mellon nin(my friend)!" Legolas tried, he really did, but it was like his eyelids were glued shut. So, instead, he reached for Aragorn's hand, and Aragorn immediately took it. He squeezed it lightly, and Legolas, no matter how weak he was, squeezed back. Aragorn smiled despite himself.

"Oh, Legolas, I'm so sorry for arguing with you. I really am!" Legolas just squeezed his hand back again and smiled, hoping his friend would take this as a sign that he didn't blame him for anything. But darkness crept up on Legolas once again, and soon, it surrounded him, and soon, he was back to sleep.

Aragorn was disappointed and a little worried that his friend hadn't said anything, but other than that, he was happy that his friend had been awake, even for just a moment. His heart felt a little lighter as he sank back down into the chair behind him, and he dozed off, still holding his friend's hand.

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Wood Elf luver: I hope that little scene made up for not updating yesterday. Again, sorry about that, but I won't do it again. I'm really hoping that I can finish this story before Christmas break ends Tuesday, but, who can know? I might just make something else unexpected happen that makes the story go on for more time. You can never know with an author like me. Please review, and feel free to criticize if you don't like where the story's going so far. I really think that's more helpful than just telling me the story is great. I already know that! LOL! Ok, read, review, and TTYL!


	7. Chapter 7

I know, I haven't updated this in a little while. I've been so busy, and last night I stayed up til eleven because I was trying to make the New Years, because it's also my sis's bday today, and we were playing Yahtzee the weird way, like, we play the whole card at one time. It's really weird, but fun. But, I'm back now, so you don't have to worry about me NOT finishing this story, which, I will never do that. I will always be back to give yall a new chappie. So, here it is!

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After his first waking, Legolas began to wake more often, and soon, he was up and walking again. He didn't blame Aragorn for what had happened, but inside, Aragorn couldn't admit that he didn't feel guilty still. One day, his guilt got overwhelming when Legolas lightly gasped in pain when he sat down in his chair in the dining hall.

After they had finished their meal, Aragorn got up and left without being excused, and he ran from the dining hall in a flash. Legolas was confused by his friend's action, and after he had finished, he politely excused himself and ran to find his friend. Legolas checked Aragorn's room first, but found no trace of him there. He thought for a moment. Where would a stubborn human with an even hotter head hide when he's upset? Then Legolas knew, and he started walking towards the garden.

Eventually, Legolas heard found Aragorn, only not as he had really expected. When he turned the corner, he saw Aragorn sitting on the ground, arms wrapped tightly around himself, silently crying. Legolas walked over to Aragorn, wondering what he was so upset about.

Legolas knelt down beside Aragorn and put a comforting hand on Aragorn's shoulder. When Aragorn didn't immediately flinch away at the touch, Legolas spoke softly, "Why are you so upset, mellon nin(my friend)?" Aragorn shook his head and continued to cry.

Legolas sighed. "I can't help you, you stubborn human, if I don't know what's wrong. Will you tell me, please?" Aragorn didn't move a muscle, nor make a sound. Legolas took his arms. "Well, at least unwrap yourself so that you don't look like a human pretzel." When Legolas recieved no resistance, he pulled Aragorn's arms off of his friend. Then he lifted up Aragorn's chin so that they could see eye to eye.

Aragorn wouldn't meet his eyes, though. He looked in the other direction, and Legolas thought this weird. "Aragorn, please tell me what it is that has left you so distressed!" Aragorn sighed a sad sigh, then for the first time, looked Legolas in the eyes. "Are you mad at me?" Legolas opened his mouth to speak, but Aragorn interrupted, "Legolas, it was all my fault, you can't deny that. If I hadn't walked into that forest in the first place, or argued with you, then none of this would've ever happened." Legolas was silent for a long moment, and then finally spoke his thoughts.

"Aragorn, I do not blame you for what happened. If we switched places, would you blame me?" Aragorn realized the truth in his friends question and slowly shook his head. "No, I wouldn't, I would tell you that it wasn't your fault." Legolas smiled. "So why do you think that I don't feel the same way? Aragorn, it pains me more to see you beat yourself up over this than that arrow wound ever would." Aragorn looked down again. "I didn't even listen to what you had to say about having to return to Mirkwood." Legolas sighed. "Aragorn, I had to return to Mirkwood because my father said that he needed me back. I still don't know why, but I guess it probably could've waited until some other time." Legolas put his hand on Aragorn's shoulder again. "Now, filthy human, we'd better get back before your father thinks we've been gone for far too long. I have no doubt he will stay true to his word on locking us in our rooms like he always said he would." The two friends laughed, and together they raced each other through the halls back to their rooms, and for the first time, Aragorn felt what it means to have a real friend.

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Wood Elf luver: Awe, the story is over! Dang! But now I am one step closer to letting you all have another look at my new story. The preview will be at the end of A Reason to Believe. If you want your say as to what you want the story to be about, I have a poll going right now asking what you all would think would be the best story line to go with. So YOU can choose what type of story you would want me to write. Vote and whichever has the most votes at the end of A Reason to Believe will be the winner and I will post the preview in the last chappie. Hope you liked this story, and Happy New Years! : )


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